Monday, September 13, 2010

Melinda Stratton: Another Mother 'Hunted' Down

Daddy ‘Ken Thompson’ is an alleged ABUSER who ‘hunts’ his victims down.

Melinda Stratton and HER son Andrew

American Mothers Political Party

Join with Australian Mothers Political Party

in support of Melinda Stratton and HER son Andrew

Their is much going on around the www aboutMelinda STRATTONand HER son Andrew (notMelinda Thomas -her Male oppressors’ Name and slave master) as AngieMediaFathers Rights site (with a woman’s name)–again wrongly reports.

“End the patriarchy! No mother is a criminal for raising her own child. Alienation is a bogus label to falsely stigmatize women and children who want to be free of a MALE guardian very similar to the false mental disorder of Drapetomania given to slaves who wanted to be free from their masters. Anyone who tries to take a child from their mother is a MONSTER. Nature made mothers the natural guardian, patriarchy enslaves the women and treats the children as property.”

Here is a great article from the Australian Shared Parenting Law Debate

The Truth About Runaway Mothers

The news articles are flying in supporting a potential sexual abuser and claiming that Melinda Stratton is mentally ill. Mental illness is the only pathetic explanation as to why a business women would run away from everything that is familiar to her and Andrew. If there was a criminal background, it would be featured, but no Melinda Stratton has nothing but the opinion of a court ordered psych.

Ken Thompson has certainly been around pushing his views to all that challenge until most people just give in and say, “Oh…Um…yes, shes crazy and your not an abuser”.

Note the word most. The exclusion is the community of REAL mothers and children who have been through this and know what Melinda has gone through. Lets face it, experts get paid for their opinion at the end of the day and I am sure some are willing to alter some to get a nice big payout at the end of the day. I place my bets on experience.

In Australia, we now have grown up children who have been forced by court order to stay with an abusive parent. No law is going to stop them from speaking out in the end as Australian jurisdiction only reaches so far.

How to break the silence… MORE HERE

Melinda Stratton and other Mothers on the Run

I fully support the following from Anonymums:

Press Release

RE: Melinda Stratton and other Mothers on the Run

As a spokesperson for Anonymums, we understand that the Family Court does not investigate child protection matters and during the proceedings if there is no history of child protection involvement, there are no investigations that are likely to ensure the protection of children involved in proceedings. The matters of Arthur Freeman, Robert Farquharson and Jayson Dalton are just a handful of reported cases that reveals the amounting negligence that the Family Court has in regards to children’s rights.

The laws particularly the Shared parenting bill based on United States joint custody laws, prioritize parent’s rights above children’s rights. Children don’t have a say and are often punished by the court if they speak out against child abuse often portrayed as “alienated children”. We are aware that these measures are in violation of human rights and until the court adequately provides protection for child abuse victims and domestic violence victims, we fully support the plights of protective mothers who are often alone in gathering the evidence and ignored by the court.

We believe Melinda Stratton based on her extraordinary lengths, the statements that support Melinda’s mothering concerns towards her child that despite the law that is against a higher law(human rights), she is doing the best she can for the child.

We believe that the system is incorrect and abusive towards both the mother and the child by barring her from vital services to provide for the child(Article 14) and hunting her down like an animal. It is the system itself that is at fault for failing to protect children and women in the first place regardless of the institution or reason.

There are more protections for murderers and pedophiles than there are for these children. We recommend that instead of Melinda coming forward to be jailed and barred from seeing her child that the system endeavors to investigate further into these allegations instead of laying the sole burden upon the mother. We recommend that the order that seeks her out be withdrawn until the system can adequately provide proper protections for Children. Until this takes place, we support the mother in obtaining alternative safety measures.

also see:

Here Come Da Psychologists & Mediators. To help return Mr. Thompson’s “wife” (property) to her right mind, Bring her to her knees under threat– Melinda Stratton’s Plight for safety

Melinda Stratton: Another Holly Ann Collins?

Randi James: Melinda Stratton and other Mothers on the Run

Melinda Stratton « Anonymums’s Blog

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Battered Mothers Human Rights Violations - The Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Man

Alleged Violations of the Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Man

While state courts are responsible for custody cases, the federal government is responsible to ensure that their judicial systems operate in accordance with the Organization of American States Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man .  The specific articles the petitioners claim have been violated are:

Article I. Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security of his person.

The courts place the children directly in danger without regard to their right to life, liberty or security of person.  In addition, often the arrangements made for visitation are unsafe to the mother as well.

Article II. All persons are equal before the law and have the rights and duties established in this Declaration, without distinction as to race, sex, language, creed or any other factor.

The gender discrimination both in the courts in general and in custody cases in particular has been known, studied and proven for years.  The gender bias studies in the 1980’s showed bias that has never been corrected.  The studies of custody have shown that it is a complete myth that women get custody over men or that men are disfavored in family court.  It is such a pervasive myth that years of litigation and proof has not shaken it  - to the harm of the victims of violence.

Article IV. Every person has the right to freedom of investigation, of opinion, and of the expression and dissemination of ideas, by any medium whatsoever.

Litigants, especially mothers, who report child abuse are punished with jail or the loss of custody of their children.  The protective parents are in a Catch 22 situation.  If they do not protect their children, they are charged with failure to protect and the child protection agencies take their children.  If they do act to protect, the courts put the children directly into the arms of the abuser.  

Article V. Every person has the right to the protection of the law against abusive attacks upon his honor, his reputation, and his private and family life.

Often the protective parents who report abuse are labeled mentally ill or diagnosed with such imaginative syndromes as parental alienation or munchhausen’s by proxy. Often they are ordered into counseling or in the case of one petitioner, taken to the mental hospital.

Article VI. Every person has the right to establish a family, the basic element of society, and to receive protection therefor.

By separating the protective parents from their children for no valid reason, the parent is denied the right to establish a family.  Some of these petitioners have not seen their children for six years.  Every single petitioner was denied contact with their child for some period of time though none was ever proven to have harmed them.

Article VII. All women, during pregnancy and the nursing period, and all children have the right to special protection, care and aid.

Often battering begins during pregnancy yet special protection is not afforded the mothers, even when they have an order of protection.  Much research has proven that children of abusers are likely to be abused themselves and have a higher rate of sexual molest.  Yet courts continue to refuse to protect the children. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the DeSheney case that the state does not owe any right of protection to children even when they know of the abuse and have in fact placed that child in that home with the father.  This is in plain violation of the Declaration.

Article XVIII. Every person may resort to the courts to ensure respect for his legal rights. There should likewise be available to him a simple, brief procedure whereby the courts will protect him from acts of authority that, to his prejudice, violate any fundamental constitutional rights.

The lack of due process in family court is legion.  Ex parte hearings and communications, decisions without hearings, refusal to admit the mother, refusal to admit evidence of violence is rampant in the cases and violates the most basic principles of due process.  Little attention or time is given to these decisions that shape a child’s life forever.

Article XXIV. Every person has the right to submit respectful petitions to any competent authority, for reasons of either general or private interest, and the right to obtain a prompt decision thereon.

The gender bias studies of the 1980’s showed that courts are not competent when dealing with women.  Unfortunately, things have not improved.  In spite of training, legislation and lobbying, judges continue to ignore statutes that mandate no custody to abusers.  The petitioners have tried to hold the judges accountable by appeal or disciplinary procedures, all to no avail.

Article XXV No person may be deprived of his liberty except in the cases and according to the procedures established by pre-existing law.

The many children who are put directly into harms way by being placed with an abuser or molester are deprived of their liberty.  When courts ignore evidence of violence, they are not following pre-existing law.  It is commonplace for judges to completely ignore state statutes that mandate that custody will not go to a perpetrator thereby violating state law as well as putting children in danger.

Article XXX. It is the duty of every person to aid, support, educate and protect his minor children, and it is the duty of children to honor their parents always and to aid, support and protect them when they need it.

These petitioners have tried to protect their children.  It is the courts that have prohibited them.  The cost to both child and parent is overwhelming and devastating.

The Gonzales case, also filed at the InterAmerican Commission, illustrates the failure of the American justice system to protect battered women and children.  That case dealt with the failure of the police department.  This case deals with legal abuse  - the failure of the legal system, the courts, the guardians ad litem, the attorneys for the children, the state protective agencies to both follow the law and to protect the helpless children who face the horror of violence daily.

Battered Mothers file Human Rights Violation Suit Against US to IACHR

On May 11,2007,  just before Mother’s Day weekend, ten mothers, one victimized child, now an adult,  leading national and state organizations filed a complaint against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. Their petition claims that U.S. courts, by frequently awarding child custody to abusers and child molesters, has failed to protect the life, liberties, security and other human rights of abused mothers and their children. 

http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/info/custody-abuse/legal-documents/petition-to-inter-american-commission-on-human-rights/full-text-of-iachr-petition

PRESS RELEASE

OVERVIEW and FAQ's in materials on the right side of this page.

Scroll down to read full petition, including case histories of several of the petitioners.  You will be horrified to learn what is happening to abused women and children in courtrooms all across this country.

Exhibit 28: Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories
Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Tatge Lasseur Productions, 2006 Underwritten by a grant from the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.
Full length of this documentary was submitted to the IACHR. 

Full Petition to the IACHR (large file)

Table of Contents

Introduction

Petitioners

Court Gender Bias - academic studies

Court Gender Bias -experiential studies

Attempts to Remedy Problem

Summary of Problem

Alleged Violations of the Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man

Compliance

Additional Supporting Organizations - list

List of Exhibits

EXHIBITS

1. Photos of petitioner Claudine Dombrowski . (graphic)

2. Affidavit and book, Let My Children Go, A Mother’s Journal , Wendy Titelman, Kinderlex Books, 2005.

3. Letter from California Protective Parents Association .

4. Affidavit from Kourts for Kids.

5. Letter from StopFamilyViolence.org .

6. EXPOSE  The Failure of Family Courts to Protect Children from Abuse in Custody Disputes:   A Resource Book for Lawmakers, Judges, Attorneys and Mental health Professionals, Our Children Our Future Charitable Foundation, Los Gatos, CA, 1999. 
( very large file - long time to load)

7. Chesler, Phyllis, Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody,  McGraw-Hill Book Company, NY, 1986, select pages.

8. Battered Mothers’ Testimony Project:   A Human Rights Approach to Child Custody and Domestic Violence, Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence, June 2003.

9. Common Misconceptions in Addressing Domestic Violence in Child Custody Disputes , Jaffee, Crooks, and Poisson, 57 Juvenile and Family Court Journal Fall 2003.

10. Justice in the Domestic Relations Division of the Philadelphia Family Court:  A Report to the Community, Women’s Law Project, Philadelphia, Pa, April 2003.

11. California Protective Parents Network , national survey, September 2001 to December 2004.
          Part 1 - table
          Part 2 - report

12. Jana Bommersbach, Jana’s View, Phoenix Magazine , May 2006, p. 28.

13. Article Launched: 6/18/2006 12:00 AM , Mom termed 'parental alienator' wins rare vindication in courts , BY TROY ANDERSON, Staff Writer, LA Daily News.

14. Hoult, Jennifer, J.D., The Evidentiary Admissibility of Parental Alienation Syndrome:   Science, Law and Policy,  Children’s Legal Rights Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 2006.

15. Navigating Custody and Visitation Evaluations in Cases with Domestic Violence:  A Judges Guide , National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 2004, revised 2006.

16. Report on Women’s Rights in the United States under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in response to the Second and Third Periodic Report of the United States of America, July 2006.

17. Courageous Kids personal stories.
            Part 1 - Courageous Kids Network
            Part 2 - Case Studies
            Part 3 - Letter to IACHR by siblings
            Part 4 - Alana Krause, Girl, Interrupted

18. Letter from Legal Momentum to Daniel Meron, DHHS , Washington, DC dated 28 February 2007.

19. European Parliament, A6-0404/2005, Report , 9.12.2005 on the current situation in combating violence against women and any future action (2004/2220(INI)) Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality Rapporteur: Maria Carlshamre PE 364.709v02-00 2/17 RR364709EN.doc

20. Testimony to the Truth Commission , Fourth Battered Mothers Custody Conference, January 2007.

21. Examples of Injustices in NYC Family Courts , Battered Women’s Resources Center, January 2007.

22. Letter and columns from The Parenting Project , Rhode Island.

23. Letter from the Illinois Coalition for Family Court Reform .

24. Letter from Child Abuse Forensic Institute , Napa, CA.

25. Legal Momentum letter and summary of Battered
     Mother's Speak Out

26. Letter from National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

27. Letter from Justice for Children

28. Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories , Connecticut Public Broadcasting (see above for excerpt)

29. Letters of support from additional organizations.

National organizations

                   State Organizations

Supporting Organizations

The following organizations have sent letters to the InterAmerican Commission in support of the petition.

Nat'l Organizations

Domestic Violence Report

Family Violence Prevention Fund

Justice For Children

Kourts for Kids

The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence

Legal Momentum

National Alliance to End Sexual Violence

National Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

National Organization For Women

National Organization For Women Foundation

National Family Court Watch Project
Sidran Traumatic Stress Institute

Stop Family Violence

State Organizations

California Protective Parents Association

California National Organization for Women

Child Abuse Forensic Institute (CA)

Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Illinois Coalition for Family Court Reform

Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence

Michigan National Organization for Women

New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence

National Organization for Women - New York State, Inc.

Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Parenting Project (RI)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

American Mothers Political Party “Still Standing” Show THURSDAY 9/9/2010 5:00 PM

http://americanmotherspoliticalparty.org/

Upcoming Show: 9/9/2010 5:00 PM   

Bookmark using any bookmark manager!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxRm7_faGto&autoplay=&fs=1&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&rel=0&]


American Mothers Political Party  Still Standing

AMPP is a social movement seeking justice and accountability within the family court system which includes DHHS/CPS, psychologists and other so called experts. Special Guest! Barry Goldstein, attorney, teacher, author and advocate for women abused by their partner (and too often the courts) a book for women seeking to leave their abusers and for their friends, family, supporters and advocates. SCARED TO LEAVE AFRAID TO STAY Paths From Family Violence to Safety tells the story of ten women as they left their abusers seeking a better life. The book shows in these abuse cases how courts handle legal issues such as orders of protection, custody, visitation, support, marital property and criminal prosecutions.

 

A new collaboration book Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody

Co Edited  with Barry Goldstein and Dr. Maureen Hannah with more than 25 of the leading experts in the U.S. and Canada have contributed chapters to this book. These experts include judges, lawyers, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists, journalists and domestic violence advocates. This is a show not to be missed! Join us once again for lively discussion on family court and its treatment of abused women and children!

 

   DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE and CHILD CUSTODY brings together experts from the US and Canada for a multi-disciplinary review of thDomestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custodye most up-to-date research and recommendations for handling, domestic violence custody cases. The book’s 25 chapters are written by those in the know:  judges, lawyers, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists, journalists, domestic violence advocates, and others intimately familiar with the details of these cases.  These diverse experts approach the issue through the lens of different disciplines and professional experiences.  Although they may not agree on every point, they do agree on at least one thing: that the family court system in this country is broken.

For more than two decades, protective mothers from every state in the country (as well as overseas) have been ordered to turn their children over into the care, and even the custody, of the children's abusive fathers.  This occurs even when there is adequate evidence of child abuse, domestic violence, and other harmful behaviors on the part of the father.  Courts claim to be doing this to ensure that both parents remain involved in their children’s lives after divorce or separation, but in fact, in most of these cases, precisely the opposite happens:  mothers are denied any meaningful relationship, or even contact, with their children.  In the meantime, male supremacist groups claim unfair treatment in the family courts, seeking shared or total custody in order to avoid paying child support and to maintain men’s traditional control over their partner and their children.

We can argue about when we should have known, but today we know the custody court system is destroying the lives of thousands of children.  It will continue to do so until it adopts the reforms advocated in this well documented book.  As Rita Smith, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, writes in her Afterward, now that this book has been published, those who continue to use the flawed approaches and practices addressed in this book can only be construed as engaging in professional malpractice.

            When the court system, like other entities, began to respond to domestic violence as a public health concern back in the mid-to-late 1970s, there was little if any research on the effects of, or the proper societal response to domestic violence.  At the time, many believed domestic violence was caused by mental illness or substance abuse or was provoked by the victim's actions.  Domestic violence was equated with physical abuse, and it was believed that children were unaffected by it unless they, themselves, were directly assaulted.  In recent years, these and other assumptions that the courts have long relied on have been exposed as the myths they are.  Nevertheless, to this very day, the courts are operating according to these same outmoded ideas.  It’s business as usual, with the courts continuing to churn out another generation of damaged children and traumatized mothers.  This is the inevitable outcome of using outdated and discredited approaches to making custody decisions when domestic violence and similar factors affect the case.

One of the findings you'll learn about in this book is that, of the small fraction (5%) of child custody cases that are contested to trial and often beyond, perhaps 90% involve abuse allegations against the father.  These are not good guys sincerely wanting to raise their children—these are, for the most part, batterers who want to punish, hurt, and control their exes.  Another factor contributing to the surge in men’s filing for custody of their children was the federal child support enforcement law that was put into place in 1993.  In the decade prior to that, male supremacist groups had begun to encourage abusers who had little involvement with the children during the relationship to seek custody as a vindictive tactic against their partner. (We cannot count how many women have told us that their abuser had threatened them with some version of, “If you leave, you’ll never get the kids!”)  Courts who are certain that children do better with both parents in their lives (regardless, apparently, of how sociopathic,  addicted, or mentally deranged the parent may be), are delighted to see fathers who appear to be so devoted to their children that they will fight for them in court.

            Contrary to what many might assume, the people who staff our nation’s custody courts have no real expertise about topics related to children’s best interests—children's developmental needs, the mother-child attachment bond, the benefits of long-term nursing, the harms of maternal-child separation, and so forth.  Judges usually aren’t required to have any education whatsoever on the major issues affecting the litigants who appear in front of their bench.  Although there is plenty of  published literature on such topics, such as on the effects of domestic violence on child witnesses or the developmental impact of lengthy mother-child separations--it’s hard to find anyone in the legal system, including custody evaluators, who bases recommendations on the generally accepted research on children's mental health and developmental requirements.

            The information provided by this book isn’t necessarily new, but it is all up to date. We also believe that the findings in this book are conclusive.  Still, we want to be clear that our interest isn’t in attacking the court system; rather, what we wish to do is to work with the system.  We hope to form a genuine collaboration with the courts and others charged with protecting our nation’s most vulnerable citizens. Our only agenda is for courts to use the most up-to-date research available to inform their decisions and make the safety of children the highest priority.  We would like to work with judges and other court professionals to provide them with the information that was unavailable thirty years ago, when many of the current practices were first developed.

            We must also say a word to the media.  One of the chapters is written by Garland Waller, an award winning documentary film producer and professor of communication at Boston University.  Her chapter speaks about the failure of the media to expose a crisis that has endangered so many of our children.  Domestic violence experts emphasize the importance of looking for patterns and remembering the context of information.  Journalists have been reluctant to publicize individual cases because it is hard to know the truth when the facts are disputed and when court findings are so often wrong.  It is difficult to detect these patterns in a single case, but it is easy to see the patterns when we look at hundreds or thousands of cases and see obvious mistakes leading to dangerous outcomes.

            Now that we have the evidence to prove that the United States family court system is broken, will the media do its job by picking up the story and making the public aware of what is going on?  Of course, any one case can be called “controversial,” since it’s assumed that both parties have equally valid arguments to make.  But domestic violence is hardly a controversial topic, and there is but one valid position to take on it, which is that it is harmful and unacceptable and must be stopped.  In fact, every courthouse and every state legislature claim to work on behalf of victims of domestic violence.  Now that we’ve proven the existence of these problems, will the media use its might to enlighten the public about this national scandal, compared by many to the investigations of sexual abuse among clergy to educate the public about these tragic outcomes?  If the children whose lives have been ruined through bad decision-making by a family court judges had instead been made deathly ill by a bacteria living inside the cream of Oreo cookies, the media would have been all over the story.  There would be public outrage, and rightly so, especially if it were then discovered that the FDA had known the cookies were bad but allowed them to be consumed in school lunchrooms across the country.

            Is this ever-growing phenomenon of childless mothers and motherless children no less worthy of our intense collective scrutiny?   Will anyone listen?  Will you?

Now that we know that the custody courts are broken, what are we going to do about it?                                                          

- By Barry Goldsten, Co-editor, and

- Mo Therese Hannah, Co-editor

In a trend that started in the 1980s, and increasingly since then, family court judges across the U.S. have ordered thousands and thousands of children into unsupervised visitation with abusive biological fathers.  In many cases, mothers have been denied any form of custody, with some losing all contact with their children. In the last few years, attorneys and social service advocates have met to address this issue at the annual Battered Mother’s Custody Conference.  This book brings together the expertise and perspective of more than thirty contributors to BMCC in a comprehensive resource that arms advocates with the best thinking and most effective legal strategies in the battle to protect mothers and families from a system that often fails to address abuse and sometimes actually worsens the problem.

Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody presents insights and hands-on practice guidance from the leading experts on child custody cases that involve intimate partner violence and child abuse. Chapter authors address the prevalence of these problems, the complex reasons why protective mothers lose custody of their children, the things court agents and other professionals often do that contribute to bad outcomes, and the corrective measures that must be put into place to ensure legal protections for abused women and their children.

  • Understand the harm caused by all types of abusive behavior, whether physical, verbal, financial, legal, or other forms.
  • Guide the representation of protective mothers through research, case law, and consultation to improve case outcomes.
  • Establish the paramount importance of children’s safety beyond all other priorities that may emerge in a child custody case.
  • Provide judges with new insight into the dynamics of violence, recognize when experts and other types of witnesses are providing testimony based on myths, stereotypes, and discredited theories, and provide an empirically based, real-world rationale for orders emphasizing the safety of protective mothers and the accountability of batterers.

Written with the expressed goal of helping battered mothers assert their rights to a safe family life free from violence, the contributors to this book take a firm stand against so-called “balanced” points of view that attempt to explain or justify abusive behavior.  This book is grounded in the belief that battering is never justified, and batterers are not entitled to “equal rights” to custody when the safety of a child is in question.  Advocates who share that view will find this book a uniquely compelling ally in protecting and defending the rights of battered mothers.

©Civic Research Institute • P.O. Box 585, Kingston, NJ 08528
Tel: 609-683-4450 • Fax: 609-683-7291
Email: order@civicresearchinstitute.com

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Murder/Suicide 2010 Google MAP

Murder/Suicide 2010 NOTE: All incidents are listed in reverse chronological order (newest first). Most addresses are approximate. A map for 2009 can be found at http://murder-suicide.blogspot.com
View Murder/Suicide 2010 in a larger map

Free speech for child molesters, but not for mothers who want to raise their own children. Manual on How to Molest Children Is Legal, Cops Say

Manual on How to Molest Children Is Legal, Cops Say Florida Police Still Want to Know Who Is Responsible for 170-page Book


75 comments

By DEAN SCHABNER

VIDEO

A 170-page manual explaining step by step how to molest children which police in Orange County, Fla., believe has been circulating there for months, is not illegal. Investigators have stated that they still want to know where it came from.

Orlando police search for author of 170-page manual.

"I've never seen anything like it. It was pretty amazing when I first saw it just because how detailed it was," Orange County Sheriff's Office Det. Philip Graves told ABC News Orlando, Fla., affiliate WFTV.

The manual, which was apparently written by someone who calls himself "the mule," is a how-to of child molestation, even explaining where and how to find potential victims, the station reported.

"I was more amazed that someone would be as bold as to create an actual 170-page document that would detail how to do it," he said.

more here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/manual-molest-children-legal-cops/story?id=11561609

Thursday, September 2, 2010

NOW SUMMER NEWS LETTER on The CRISIS IN FAMILY COURTS – Abusers getting custody

width="365" height="400"
codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab">









Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Interview with Barry Goldstein & Claudine Dombrowski Today!!--Family Courts:" Mothers Without Custody"-The Susan Murphy Milano Show: Wednesday September 1, 2010 Call In 347-326-9337

1-347-326-9337
4:00 PM Eastern Time and 3:00 PM Central Time

Show Link: www.blogtalkradio.com/susanmurphymilano

Family Courts:" Mothers Without Custody"-The Susan Murphy Milano Show: Wednesday September 1, 2010


"I am a mother, a daughter, a sister, your neighbor, your co-worker and or friend. I am only one of thousands of Battered Mothers and battered children struggling daily to keep our children safe ourselves alive. Many have not survived. I pledge to my many sisters-and all our children, those who have fallen and those who still stand, being brutalized daily, weekly, year after year- by a system that is supposed to protect, the Courts continue to punish battered mothers and our battered children. United we carry forward the unheard cries of our children."

On the Susan Murphy Milano Show: Todays guests will be Barry Goldstein is a former attorney and author of the book, “Scared to Leave Afraid to Stay,” and newly released book, "Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody" as well as an advocate for women abused by their partners and sometimes the court system.
.
And Claudine Dombrowski a noted expert on Mothers Without Custody, who herself is currently being victimized by the family courts in Kansas City, Mo.

The number to call into the show with questions or comments is:

1-347-326-9337
4:00 PM Eastern Time and 3:00 PM Central Time

Show Link: www.blogtalkradio.com/susanmurphymilano
If you miss the show be sure to return to this site where it will re-play automatically through September 8,, 2010 or you can down load the podcast by going to the link for the show.
To be considered as a guest on a future show or if you have a subject matter or idea you would like on a topic of interest please email us at murphymilano@gmail.com
Been there, done that…” Susan Murphy- Milano has turned a tired phrase into demonstrable realism through the gift of her newly published book, "TIME'S UP: A GUIDE ON HOW TO LEAVE AND SURVIVE ABUSIVE AND STALKING RELATIONSHIPS

ImaginePublicity Barry Goldstein and Claudine Dombrowski joinSusan Murphy-Milano today at 4pm Eastern to discuss Mothers Without Custody on BlogTalkRadio

Susan Murphy Milano | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

www.blogtalkradio.com

ImaginePublicity Barry Goldstein and Claudine Dombrowski joinSusan Murphy-Milano today at 4pm Eastern to discuss Mothers Without Custody on BlogTalkRadio

Susan Murphy Milano, Author, Speaker, Violence Safety Strategist and Consultant and Celebrity Spokesperson, has been featured on Oprah, 20/20, The Justice Files, US News & World Report, USA Today, The E Network, The Associated Press, Family Circle Magazine, CNN and NBC's Sunday Today. Susan's...

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSE, AND CHILD CUSTODY Legal Strategies and Policy Issues

Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody Legal Strategies and Policy Issues

Editors: Mo Therese Hannah, Ph.D. and Barry Goldstein, J.D

No one wants to be known as the judge who hurts children and this research can prevent the kinds of tragic outcomes we see too frequently.


Table of Contents (PDF)

domestiv Violence, abuse and child custody

In a trend that started in the 1980s, and increasingly since then, family court judges across the U.S. have ordered thousands and thousands of children into unsupervised visitation with abusive biological fathers. 

In many cases, mothers have been denied any form of custody, with some losing all contact with their children. In the last few years, attorneys and social service advocates have met to address this issue at the annual Battered Mother’s Custody Conferences. 

This book brings together the expertise and perspective of more than thirty contributors to BMCC in a comprehensive resource that arms advocates with the best thinking and most effective legal strategies in the battle to protect mothers and families from a system that often fails to address abuse and sometimes actually worsens the problem.

Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody presents insights and hands-on practice guidance from the leading experts on child custody cases that involve intimate partner violence and child abuse.

Chapter authors address the prevalence of these problems, the complex reasons why protective mothers lose custody of their children, the things court agents and other professionals often do that contribute to bad outcomes, and the corrective measures that must be put into place to ensure legal protections for abused women and their children.

  • Understand the harm caused by all types of abusive behavior, whether physical, verbal, financial, legal, or other forms.
  • Guide the representation of protective mothers through research, case law, and consultation to improve case outcomes.
  • Establish the paramount importance of children’s safety beyond all other priorities that may emerge in a child custody case.
  • Provide judges with new insight into the dynamics of violence, recognize when experts and other types of witnesses are providing testimony based on myths, stereotypes, and discredited theories, and provide an empirically based, real-world rationale for orders emphasizing the safety of protective mothers and the accountability of batterers.

Written with the expressed goal of helping battered mothers assert their rights to a safe family life free from violence, the contributors to this book take a firm stand against so-called “balanced” points of view that attempt to explain or justify abusive behavior.  This book is grounded in the belief that battering is never justified, and batterers are not entitled to “equal rights” to custody when the safety of a child is in question.  Advocates who share that view will find this book a uniquely compelling ally in protecting and defending the rights of battered mothers.

REVIEWS:

“Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody will be instructive for policymakers, those working in the family justice system, and members of the media–which the authors say has by-and-large failed to expose custody court scandals. But it is a must-read for any mother involved in a child custody battle, and especially for mothers trying get free from an abusive relationship."
—R. Dianne Bartlow, Ms. Magazine Blog

“The stories of injustice in this book will shock you, and make you cry--but keep reading. Abusers are hoping you won't pay attention because it will be too painful.  Prove them wrong by reading this book again and again and again--and share it with everyone who needs to know the truth.”
—Wendy Murphy, JD, New England Law-Boston; author of And Justice For Some

"We are excited about Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody, a new book that we believe can be used to change the broken custody court system."
—Rita Smith, Executive Director, NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence)

“This book serves as a beacon of light to all those who have become jaundiced by the malfunctioning family court, social services, law guardian and mental health system.”
—Amy Neustein, Ph.D., Co-Author of From Madness to Mutiny: Why Mothers Are Running From the Family Courts—And What Can Be Done About It

“Wise judges will use the up-to-date research now available to take a fresh look at practices and assumptions deeply ingrained after thirty years.”
—Judge Sol Gothard, JD, MSW, ACSW, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, State of Louisiana (ret.)

.

Praise for this important new resource ...

“This comprehensive book is a gift to the cause of justice not only for victimized women and children but for anyone who cares about the integrity of law itself. The American legal system has for too long facilitated the very violence it purports to forbid, often allowing abusive men to use the courts to punish women and children who speak out against child sexual abuse and domestic violence. Mo Hannah and Barry Goldstein have created a desperately needed manual that will empower generations of victims to fight back. My favorite section is the one that reminds us of the obvious: 'Therapy is Not the Answer' to violence. The stories of injustice in this book will shock you, and make you cry--but keep reading. Abusers are hoping you won't pay attention because it will be too painful.  Prove them wrong by reading this book again and again and again--and share it with everyone who needs to know the truth.”
—Wendy Murphy, JD, New England Law-Boston; author of And Justice For Some

"We are excited about Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody, a new book that we believe can be used to change the broken custody court system.  The book contains chapters by over 25 of the leading experts in the US and Canada including judges, lawyers, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists, journalists and domestic violence advocates.  The co-editors, Mo Therese Hannah and Barry Goldstein and many of the contributors like Joan Zorza and Lois Schwaeber are long-time friends and supporters of our movement.  Although the contributors come from very different disciplines and backgrounds, there is remarkable agreement that thousands of children are being forced to live with abusers because of common mistakes and discredited practices used by the family court system.  The book is meticulously researched and cited so the findings have the highest credibility."
—Rita Smith, Executive Director, NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence)

“This book serves as a beacon of light to all those who have become jaundiced by the malfunctioning family court, social services, law guardian and mental health system. Whether the reader is a protective parent, child advocate, attorney, judge, social worker or mental health expert, this exquisitely organized and illuminating volume will help the reader to better understand the socio-historical, socio-legal, and socio-cultural forces shaping today’s domestic relations courts. The editors have assembled eminent scholars, practitioners, and child advocates in one volume that flows like a brilliantly conducted orchestral piece. This fine collection clarifies the core issues at hand and provides a full panoply of solutions; it adds a significant contribution to an expanding body of literature on domestic violence, abuse and child custody.”
—Amy Neustein, Ph.D., Co-Author of From Madness to Mutiny: Why Mothers Are Running From the Family Courts—And What Can Be Done About It, recipient of the NARCCW 2010 Pro Humanitate Literary Award, shared with Attorney Michael Lesher, a contributor to this volume.

“For years custody courts have confidently denied complaints by mothers of unfair treatment in domestic violence cases. If the court system had commissioned research to determine how the present practices are working, the result would be the information contained in Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody. The research findings demonstrate court practices are outdated and their confidence misplaced. Wise judges will use the up-to-date research now available to take a fresh look at practices and assumptions deeply ingrained after thirty years. No one wants to be known as the judge who hurts children and this research can prevent the kinds of tragic outcomes we see too frequently.”
—Judge Sol Gothard, JD, MSW, ACSW, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, State of Louisiana (ret.)

Related Publications: Child Victimization; Treating the Lifetime Health Effects of Childhood Victimization; Domestic Violence Report; Stalking; Family & Intimate Partner Violence QuarterlyViolence Against Women.


To order, use the orderform or contact:
Civic Research Institute • P.O. Box 585, Kingston, NJ 08528
Tel: 609-683-4450 • Fax: 609-683-7291
Email: order@civicresearchinstitute.com

Family Courts:" Mothers Without Custody"-The Susan Murphy Milano Show: Wednesday September 1, 2010 Call In 347-326-9337

1-347-326-9337
4:00 PM Eastern Time and 3:00 PM Central Time

Show Link: www.blogtalkradio.com/susanmurphymilano

Family Courts:" Mothers Without Custody"-The Susan Murphy Milano Show: Wednesday September 1, 2010


"I am a mother, a daughter, a sister, your neighbor, your co-worker and or friend. I am only one of thousands of Battered Mothers and battered children struggling daily to keep our children safe ourselves alive. Many have not survived. I pledge to my many sisters-and all our children, those who have fallen and those who still stand, being brutalized daily, weekly, year after year- by a system that is supposed to protect, the Courts continue to punish battered mothers and our battered children. United we carry forward the unheard cries of our children."

On the Susan Murphy Milano Show: Todays guests will be Barry Goldstein is a former attorney and author of the book, “Scared to Leave Afraid to Stay,” and newly released book, "Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody" as well as an advocate for women abused by their partners and sometimes the court system.
.
And Claudine Dombrowski a noted expert on Mothers Without Custody, who herself is currently being victimized by the family courts in Kansas City, Mo.

The number to call into the show with questions or comments is:

1-347-326-9337
4:00 PM Eastern Time and 3:00 PM Central Time

Show Link: www.blogtalkradio.com/susanmurphymilano
If you miss the show be sure to return to this site where it will re-play automatically through September 8,, 2010 or you can down load the podcast by going to the link for the show.
To be considered as a guest on a future show or if you have a subject matter or idea you would like on a topic of interest please email us at murphymilano@gmail.com
Been there, done that…” Susan Murphy- Milano has turned a tired phrase into demonstrable realism through the gift of her newly published book, "TIME'S UP: A GUIDE ON HOW TO LEAVE AND SURVIVE ABUSIVE AND STALKING RELATIONSHIPS

ImaginePublicity Barry Goldstein and Claudine Dombrowski joinSusan Murphy-Milano today at 4pm Eastern to discuss Mothers Without Custody on BlogTalkRadio

Susan Murphy Milano | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

www.blogtalkradio.com

ImaginePublicity Barry Goldstein and Claudine Dombrowski joinSusan Murphy-Milano today at 4pm Eastern to discuss Mothers Without Custody on BlogTalkRadio

Susan Murphy Milano, Author, Speaker, Violence Safety Strategist and Consultant and Celebrity Spokesperson, has been featured on Oprah, 20/20, The Justice Files, US News & World Report, USA Today, The E Network, The Associated Press, Family Circle Magazine, CNN and NBC's Sunday Today. Susan's...